DIGEST

TECHNOLOGY

Analysts expect big HP job cuts

Shares of Hewlett-Packard Co. rose 4.6 percent Wednesday after Chief Executive
Mark Hurd
said he plans to slash costs across the company. Analysts said that may mean 15,000 job cuts.

Hurd's comments on Tuesday signal plans to slice more jobs and lift profit at Hewlett-Packard, the largest U.S. printer maker and the world's No. 2 seller of personal computers. He may trim 5 percent to 10 percent of the staff, said Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.'s Toni Sacconaghi and Merrill Lynch & Co.'s Steve Milunovich.

BLOOMBERG NEWS

BANKING

Member of Fed plans to depart

His departure will open up a second seat on the 12-member committee for President Bush to fill. Federal Reserve Board member Ben Bernanke is moving to the White House staff as chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers.

Bush, however, will make his biggest imprint on the Fed when he picks a successor to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, at the helm since 1987. People close to Greenspan said he is expected to step down when his term expires on Jan. 31.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

EXECUTIVES

More CEOs being shown the door

Companies worldwide replaced chief executive officers at a fast rate last year as boards and investors sought to boost earnings and share prices, according to management consultant
Booz Allen Hamilton
.

One in seven chief executives at the world's 2,500 largest publicly traded companies lost their jobs in 2004, compared with one in 10 a year earlier, a survey showed.

In Europe, ousted CEOs left after an average of 2 1/2 years, compared with 4 1/2 on U.S. boards.

BLOOMBERG NEWS

RETAIL

Two leaders leave Garden Ridge

The week after it emerged from bankruptcy, Garden Ridge Corp. has seen the departure of Jack Lewis, its chairman and CEO; and Steve Higgins, its president.

On Wednesday, the Houston-based company named Mary McNabb its new CEO. She was recently executive vice president of merchandising and marketing at Factory 2-U Stores.

Lewis has joined Kirklands, a Jackson, Tenn.-based home decor retailer, as its president and CEO. A Garden Ridge spokesman confirmed the resignation of Higgins.